Can’t find your glasses? Here’s how you can see without them

If you’ve ever got yourself into a fluster because you couldn’t find your glasses and you needed them to read, there is a clever trick that can help you see more clearly without them or contact lenses.

It’s called the ‘pinhole effect’ and you might have heard of it before. Scientists have known of its existence since the 5th century.

All you have to do is make your hands into a tube-like tunnel, which creates a pinhole to look through, and you are magically provided with clearer vision.

It proposed to work no matter how blurred your vision might be.

There’s a cute and visionary (do you like what we did there?) clip created by MinutePhysics that shows you how to achieve improved vision without your specs.

The technique works by focusing light on the retina, which is the sensitive part at the back of your eye where a crisp image is formed.

If the light is coming from an object directly through the pupil to the retina then it shouldn’t need to be focused and it should create a well-defined image. However, light coming from different distances will spread out on the retina and the image is likely to be blurred.

For best results you should close your other eye or cover it with your spare hand.

You’ll get a tiny field of view, and no peripheral vision, but according to one laser eye surgeon the technique can correct up to six units of short-sightedness.

Obviously this handy technique (we did it again!) is not a permanent solution, so if you are having problems with your vision you should always consult an optician.

Would you give this simple solution a try? Are there any other tips or tricks for seeing when you’ve misplaced/forgotten your glasses?